Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Mike Flanagan: ‘Doctor Sleep’ needed Kubrick’s overlook hotel

Mike Flanagan: ‘Doctor Sleep’ needed Kubrick’s overlook hotel

Mike Flanagan: ‘Doctor Sleep’ needed Kubrick’s overlook hotel

Mike Flanagan: ‘Doctor Sleep’ needed Kubrick’s overlook hotel

Advertisement
  •  Mike Flanagan had to tread a very thin line in order to create the Doctor Sleep he desired.
  • He chose to bring everything back to the Overlook hotel that Kubrick created.
  • The Shining is an adaptation of Stephen King’s novel with a modern twist.
Advertisement

Mike Flanagan, the director, had to tread a very thin line in order to create the Doctor Sleep he desired.

Instead of creating a direct adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining sequel, as the author had hoped, he chose to make a few changes to the tale in order to give it his own unique spin and connect it to Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 iconic adaptation.

Flanagan provided more details about why he needed to bring everything back to the Overlook hotel that Kubrick created in his version of the story in a longer post on Tumblr.

Following an older Danny Torrance who succumbed to drinking as a result of years of trauma and hauntings from the Overlook, Doctor Sleep shows how he eventually broke the pattern, got sober, and went on to work in hospice care.

But when Abra Stone, a young girl with a shining bigger than his own, reaches out to him and warns him of the danger posed by the True Knot, a sect that feeds on the shine, he is forced to deal with the otherworldly once more.

However, The Overlook hotel itself was one item that Doctor Sleep initially lacked due to the conclusion of King’s The Shining. Flanagan remembered discussing the movie’s script with Jon Berg at Warner Bros., which was written by A Beautiful Mind author and Oscar winner Akiva Goldsman.

Advertisement

He preferred a more accurate, if condensed, rendition of the book with the exception that the Overlook is still intact because he didn’t entirely agree with Goldsman’s intended course. He wanted Kubrick’s Overlook in particular because of how much it stood out to him.

The director recalls their discussion about Berg’s concepts:

“I think you have to bring back the hotel. Kubrick’s hotel, I mean.” Jon smiled wider. “Yeah, it’s a bummer the hotel burned down. King goes out of his way at the start of the book to emphasize that – no Overlook, look no further.” This was my biggest gripe with the book. I said “When I read the book, all I could see was Kubrick’s hotel. I think you do the book as close as you possibly can, until the big fight at the end. Instead of it taking place in an empty field, let it be in the hotel.”

Advertisement

After repairing the Overlook, Flanagan made the decision to include a finale that would bring King and Kubrick together. Jack Torrance died in the hedge labyrinth instead of dying with the hotel in a huge explosion after leaving the boilers unattended in Kubrick’s finale, which is the full opposite of King’s.

King saw Kubrick’s portrayal of Jack as more of a villain than a likeable character because he never completed his sacrifice to save Danny, Wendy, and Dick Halloran. By allowing Dan to break the cycle his father fell into in Kubrick’s version while yet hitting the same ideas King addressed in Doctor Sleep, Flanagan was able to make both storylines work with King’s The Shining ending. At their meeting, he brought up the change:

Jon: “Do you think King will be upset if you change his ending? You know how feels about The Shining, right?”

Me: “What if we gave him THAT ending? What if we let Danny have Jack’s ending? Jack sacrificed himself to save his family and destroy the Overlook – why not let Danny do that? Change the ending, sure, but give him the ending Kubrick denied him.”

Advertisement

One thing Flanagan was always conscious of—and a little terrified of—was how both sides would respond to the changes. At the time, the pressure of Kubrick and King weighed heavily on his shoulders, but in the end, he was able to please many viewers while still carrying out his own vision:

Writing the script was tough. I immediately felt like I had stepped into a very unsafe space. “This is going to piss everybody off,” I figured. Kubrick fans would be livid that the movie was being made. King fans might be angry that Kubrick’s imagery was being homaged. There was no way to please everyone, so I set about writing the movie I wanted to see most.

HBO Max is presently offering Doctor Sleep for streaming. View the trailer down below.

Also Read

Guardians of the Galaxy: Chris Pratt shares behind-the-scenes look
Guardians of the Galaxy: Chris Pratt shares behind-the-scenes look

Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special premiered on December 14th. The Christmas...

Advertisement

 

 

Advertisement
Advertisement
Read More News On

Catch all the Entertainment News, Hollywood News, Movies News, Breaking News Event and Latest News Updates on The BOL News


Download The BOL News App to get the Daily News Update & Follow us on Google News.


End of Article

Next Story